I'm seriously thinking about dropping out of my top ranked law school (top 4).

I'm just not a good lawyer. I understand the stuff and I enjoy it and I study so hard. Everyone I study with (and even teach doctrine to) gets better grades than me. My GPA is around a 2.8. My first semester I felt so overwhelmed and honestly felt like I panicked. My second semester I worked so hard, bought the E&Es,reviewed everything, took practice tests, felt confident and still did badly.

I just feel exhausted with the weight of being terrible at this. I'm so disappointed in myself and have spent the last week just close to tears all the time. God, why am I such a failure? I can't even blame law school because it's me. I can't tell anyone about it - not friends or family - because everyone would be so disappointed if they knew that I'm a failure. That I'm stupid. And I can't tell anyone in law school because some people are secretly glad to see you fail.

I don't know if I should leave? I love law and I want to be a lawyer but it's like compared to everyone else here I'm broken. Will I even ever get a job? How bad is it to do badly at a good school. EVen if I get a job it's like I can't bear it, even if I can ride my school's coattails to something, I know I'm a failure inside.

I don't know what to say. I have posted a similar post as this, but I am not at a top 4 school. Maybe you are trying too hard. I noticed I tried much harder the second semester but my grades fell a lot. It's hard to know exactly what is going on, though. If it's your dream, you might wonder the rest of your life what would have happened if you didn't continue. Maybe try one more semester and change your study habits?

I am learning to take advice here with a grain of salt, so if I were you, I would too. You're not a failure inside, you got into a top 4 school. That means something, a lot, actually.

This may or may not be true but you have no idea of knowing that right now. The stuff you do in law school is not the same as being a lawyer. There are a lot of people that hated law school and/or didn't do well and are great lawyers.

I also don't believe that rankings would make that much difference. I don't think I'm a stupid person - just a terrible law student. I am not looking down on anyone. I'm really only concerned with my future.

I am trying to remember that law school isn't everything - even when becoming a lawyer. It is very humbling.

Depends on how much debt you'll be in and how much you really want to be a lawyer. You're obviously not getting biglaw (or midlaw for that matter). On the other hand if Columbia has a good LRAP program you could go the ADA/PI route and maybe not have to worry about debt too much (just about being poor). I think it' not a bad option if you really want to b a lawyer. And oof course actually practicing law is very different frm being a law student -- you migh sck at taking a law school test but be great in front of a jury -- lots of successful plaintiff' lawyers and criminal lawyers went to TTT and stll got terribl grades.

Second & third years can be much different from the first year of law school. I found the later law school years to be less intense & a bit more like undergraduate school. Several top students were more involved with law review, the secondary law journal or moot court than with their grades which gave others a chance to increase their class rank. Besides, if it was easy, it wouldn't be Columbia.

How do you feel you are performing at your job this summer? That might actually give more of an indication of how good a lawyer you could be.

With the curve, some people have to be at the bottom of the class. Failing at law school at a top 4, where everyone is presumably very smart and well qualified doesn't necessarily mean you don't have the skills to be a good lawyer (as a hyperbolic example, you could take all the federal clerks in the country and put them in a class and some would have to do very poorly). And considering the caliber of your school, you're in a uniquely good position where your grades won't totally prevent you from finding work (aside from probably Biglaw).

I assume you're at Columbia, or else you would have said top ten, top fourteen or top any other number.

A lot of people will tell you that a law degree isn't really that versatile, and that's probably mostly true. But a law degree from where you're at will still look good to a lot of employers outside the legal arena. Depending on your other interests, this is probably something that will open doors for you even if you don't want to, or don't think you successfully can, practice law. Of course, you have to balance that against the debt, and only you know your financial situation.

I have a 2.7 at NYU and despite being a bit disappointed in myself, I'm SO EXCITED to be a lawyer! It doesn't matter if I'm working for state government or public defense or a non-profit, if you put the law in front of me, I'm happy.

My past legal employers have been extremely happy with me. My professors enjoy having me at office hours (I'm a rising 2L and I already have an adviser for my directed research project) and I love all my extracurriculars. I love my summer job (which is unpaid and isn't very prestigious) and I love networking with lawyers.

I know I'm going to be a great lawyer no matter what I end up doing because I have the passion for it. Money is just money...you'll be able to buy all of life's necessities...especially with the help of LRAP.

Just try to focus on your passions and the opportunities in front of you instead of your failures. Certainly address the problems you're having, but don't dwell on them. Instead, enjoy being in law school! You only get three years!

Finish up. Even if you're at the bottom of your class, if you tough it out to the end you'll have a Columbia(?) JD. If you quit now, all you'll have is a wasted year and a lifetime of 'what if?'s. TLS mantra notwithstanding, biglaw employability right out of LS is not the beginning, middle and end of things. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you, and whatever jobs a JD may 'overqualify' you for, it will open a lot of doors to much better jobs than it closes.

And for all the douchebags who call 'flame' or 'troll' or whatever on every first-time poster, just quit it. Consider the options:

1) It is a flame. You spotted it. Good for you. Cookie?2) It is a real person with a real concern. You've called them a liar, mocked them in an anonymous setting, and probably driven them off the boards without providing an iota of help to them or anyone else.

Dear ShouldIdropout: Ok, listen up. At all law schools, there will be people who aren't at the top. That is just the way it is. This doens't make you a bad student or even a bad lawyer.

Moreover, performance in law school isn't necessarily corelated with being a lawyer. There are MANY, many lawyers who I have personally met who were fine lawyers but were mediocre law students.

One important key is to get an internship and see how you do. See how well they like you and how well you like practicing law. The problem with law school is that they intentionally don't tell you how to take exams, make good outlines or even train you what is important about each case other than the holding. Most law students have to figure this all out. If truth be told, most student don't get it in the first year and many don't get it throughout law school. Sadly, law school professors like to throw students into the frey and see what happens. Heck, this happened to them in law school so they do the same thing.

I would ease up on yourself. Going to a top notch law school will still give you opportunities that the T2-T4 law students won't have. You might want to get LEEWS and study it during the summer. Read up on the forums here about test taking and study skills. There are some priceless information presented here. Just ignore the jerks who are so insecure about themselves that they have to flame everyone in order to discourage posters. These folks will be going nowhere. Just keep doing your best,keep an open mind about learning; and I bet you will be fine.

Also, if you have questions about topics, see your professors. Get into study groups. If you have to, hire a tutor for a week or a kid who has done very well in law school just to show you the ropes about proper outlining and what you should take from cases. This could be very effective. However, I honestly think that you could get all the information that you need by going to the 1L student forums and reading over the threads. Good luck to you.